Time Mends Itself And Friends Grow On You
by Bow Ties And Hair Gel
Summary: There is a big time gap towards the end of the movie that wasn't showed. here is my take. A better explanation inside. SO READ ME!
1. Hopper's Gone

**Ok… so I was watching one of my 3 favorite movies (A Bug's Life) and towards the end of the movie, the little gears in my brain began to turn. Towards the end of the movie, Flik get's beaten so hard that he could have lost his life by that one like rabid grass hopper (you know, the one that acts like a dog and makes weird noises. Yeah, that one) and then get's slapped across the face by Hopper and almost squished. And then Flik got thrown across the ground by a rain drop. And then Flik get's choked by Hopper (just before Hopper got eaten by the cute little baby birds). And then magically at the end of the film, Flik is all better like absolutely nothing happened to him and then Heimlich hatches from his cocoon and is a butter fly, which we all know a pretty fat one at that. We also know that it takes a while for a caterpillar to form into a butter fly AND for someone to heal from a brutal beaten like the one Flik had. Also it was not raining at the end of the movie, so the rainy season must have ended by then, even though it only started during the part when Flik stands up to Hopper towards the end. So there must have been a large time gap that we, as viewers of the movie, did not see because it was not in the film. So here is my take on that whole time period that we didn't see. ENJOY!**

They were gone. They were finally gone. After years of working like slaves to feed themselves and Hopper's fleet, they were finally gone. Atta and Flik watched in delight and in horror from behind a rock as the bird hatchlings finished off a good, healthy meal of Hopper.

Flik tried hard to stay awake, for he felt extremely light headed. One eye was badly swollen shut and he had obtained cuts and bruises all over his face and body. He had bruises in the shape of Hopper's hands wrapped around his neck from being choked and he felt like he was going to pass out. Atta noticed this, and put her hand on Flik's shoulder, making him wince.

"Are you okay? Flik? Flik, answer me." Atta starred at him, but Flik was lost in a world of pain. And a world of pain is hard to overcome when you're just an ant, but Flik managed to hide it from Atta for the time being. "Flik, let's go back to the hill." Atta started back and Flik followed behind at a slow pace.

Atta looked back now and then to see that with each step she took, Flik fell behind by three. Just when Atta was about to stop and let him rest, Dim came flying towards her with Rosie, Tuck, and Roll on his back and carrying Heimlich with his feet. Francis came buzzing in with Slim, along with Gypsy and Manny a few moments later.

"Where's Hopper?" Asked Rosie as she climbed down from Dim's back.

"The birds got him. He's gone." Atta said with a more cheerful smile than you would expect to see from an ant that just witnessed the death of another bug. She turned around to get Flik, to see what he had to say, but she was surprised to see him sitting down on a broken branch, his head in his hands.

"Flik?" Atta said as she walked over to sit beside him. "Flik, are you okay?" She carefully sat down next to him on the branch.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Let's, let's just get back to the ant hill." He didn't sound like himself. He sounded hoarse and weak. Atta was a little concerned. She took his hand and pulled him over to Dim. Flik, Atta, Rosie, Tuck, and Roll all rode on Dim's back as he carried Heimlich with his feet. Following them was Francis and Slim, then Gypsy and Manny.

They all flew back to the ant hill and landed by the bug-made bird that was now destroyed from catching on fire. The rain had put out the fire, of course, but large amounts of black soot still covered the bird.

As soon as they landed, everyone came running over to them, dodging rain drops. They all cheered for Flik and the others. Flik's world was spinning. He felt dizzy and the loud cheers from the other ants didn't help. Before anyone knew it, Flik was unconscious on the ground.

"FLIK! OH MY GOSH, SOMEONE HELP!" Atta ran over to Flik as he lay motionless on the moist ground, trying to protect him from falling raindrops.


	2. Voices In My Head

**We left off at the end of the first chapter with Flik passing out unconscious from being brutally beaten by Hopper and that rabid grasshopper (which I found out that his name is Thumper… far from a cute little bunny if you ask me…). Here we come into chapter two leading off right at that point.**

Flora came running over to the spot where Flik lay passed out on the ground. Atta cradled his head and leaned over him, trying to protect him from the falling rain. The princess knew Flik was hurt, but she never imagined that something like this would happen.

As Flik lay unconscious on the ground, thoughts and voices ransacked through his mind. He could hear Hopper's voice, telling him that he was lower than dirt; telling him that ants were made to serve grasshoppers. He could see, from Atta's eyes, the bird catching on fire and crashing to the ground. He could feel the pain of being kicked and punched repeatedly by Thumper and the lack of air from Hopper choking him. He could hear Atta telling him to leave and never come back. He could here little dot telling him it was not a seed, but a rock. And last, but not least, Flik could see what would have happened if he hadn't come back. How the queen would have been squished in front of the whole colony and how the grasshoppers would have come back the following year, and the year after that, and the year after that…

"Atta…" Flik was starting to come around. He could barley open his eyes, but enough to see that he was in the infirmary wing of the ant hill, instead of out in the rain. He was in the same bed that Fancies had been in when he broke his leg. His voice was hoarse and raspy and he sounded out of breath.

"She's coming, my boy." Manny sat by Flik's bed along with the other circus bugs. Just then, Dot came running in.

"Flik! Flik!" Dot raced over to his bed and tried to climb on, but was stopped by Rosie.

"Sorry, honey. Flik's not feeling too great…" Rosie felt sorry for Dot. Dot was Flik's best friend, and for the young princess not to be able to sit on the bed with him was kind of hard.

"Hey, Dot." Flik said in a weary tone. He tried to sit up, but found himself too weak, and fell back into his pillow. It was so unlike his normal, hyper self. For an ant, Flik usually had a lot of energy, but it seemed to all be draining away now.

"Hi, Flik. I heard what happened to Hopper. So... we get to keep _all _the food now?"

"Yup," He said in a raspy voice, "Every last bit of it."


End file.
